Filing device



195l A. R. JACKSON 2,564,573

FILING DEVICE Filed Feb. 11, 1948 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Aug. 14, 1951 Filed Feb. 11, 1948 A. R. JACKSON I FILING DEVICE 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Aug. 14, 1951 Arthur Rex J ackson,-Mill Hill, England, assignor to Remington Rand Inc., New York, N. Y., a corporation of Delaware Application February 11, 1948, Serial No. 1,539

1 In Great Britain February 13, 1947 '2 Claims. (Cl. 129-16) 1 The invention relates to vertical visible index equipment of the kind in. which pockets are formed for the accommodation of record cards or other papers to be filed between separating leaves, each of which is secured .by one end to a carrier in the form of a frame or panel, the arrangement being such that the leaves lie in overlapping relationship leaving a narrow margin at the free end of each leaf exposed beyond the free end of the adjacent immediately overlapping leaf, such margin serving as a visible index strip or a support for an index strip.

One such device which has been widely usedis described in U. S. Patent 1,752,300 granted to the herein assignees on an application filed by LeRoi E. Hutchings. In that form the leaves had reinforcing strips along their lower edges, the junction between the reinforced part and the remainder of the leaf being perforated to form a hinge line. The sides of each leaf were notched just beyond the reinforcing strip So that the ends of the strip on each leaf formed a pair of projecting lugs which fitted in guide channels formed on the carrier. The reinforcing strips thus also served as spacer bars to determine the degree of overlap of the leaves and thereby the depth of the exposed index strips. been a disadvantage with such visible index equipment that the leaves do not all lie flat, for it Will be appreciated that where each leaf is secured by its end to the face of a flat panel, only the lowermost leaf can lie flat upon the panel. Each subsequent leaf above the lowermost leaf has to bend somewhat outwardly to overlie the leaf or leaves below it, and, with any appreciable build up of leaves on a panel, there is a tendency for all leaves except the lowermost tofan outwardly at their free ends as viewed in side elevation. The bending of the leaves not only makes each stepped stack of leaves attached to a panel more bulky than necessary, but also makes it difiicult to insert papers into, or withdraw them and from, the pockets defined between adjacent leaves, and the fanning action of the leaves and the general in convenience is increased considerably with the appreciable build up of the leaves which occurs in normal use when papers are placed between them. It is an object of the invention to avoid these disadvantages, so that, at least initially, each leaf is approximately flat and straight throughout its length. A further object of the invention is to provide a more convenient arrangement for fixing the leaves to the carrier.

The present invention consists in a visible index of the kind above described in which the connec- It has, in some cases,

to the panel.

tion of each successive leaf above the lowermost leaf to the carrier is increasingly offset outwardly from the plane of the carrier to such extent that each leaf can lie fiat upon the one below it. Conveniently the carrier may comprise a frame or panel upon which is mounted an inclined leaf support member adapted to hold the fixed edges of the leaves. The support may have one end hinged to the frame or panel and the other end mounted to slide on the frame or panel, being lockable thereto by locking means preferably accessible from the back of the panel.

A preferred form of the invention is illustrated, by way of example, in the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure l is a front elevation of the carrier having a series of leaves mounted thereon, some of the leaves being cut away to show the construction and assembly more clearly;

Figure 2 is a side elevation;

Figure 3 is an enlarged section along the lines 3-3 of Figure 1;.

Figure 4 is a view similar to Figure 3 but showing the hinged connection moved so as to permit removal of the leaves;

Figure 5 is a front elevation of part of a carrier as shown in Figure 1 but with the leaves removed; and

Figures 6 and 7 are respectively a back and side elevation of a single leaf as shown in Figures 1-4.

Referring to the drawings, the carrier comprises a rectangular wire frame ID with a sheet metal covering ll forming a panel. A cross member I2 is secured to the panel and a support [3 made of sheet metal hingedly connected to the panel by a cross link l4 has side channels I 5 which slide on the cross member l2. It will therefore be appreciated that the support I3 is hingedly connected at its lower end to one edge of cross link l4 while the opposite edge of link I4 is hingedly connected Link l4 normally spaces the lower end of support l3 outwardly from the panel in parallel relation. With the upper end of support I 3 held by cross member l2 in sliding engagement with the panel, it will be understood that support [3 will lie in an inclined position to the panel in a vertical direction on one side thereof, as shown in Fig. 3. Secured to the back of the support I3 is a flat spring l6 the free end of which is turned down at I! to engage projections [8 from the panel, and which is accessible for disengagement through a finger hole [9 in the panel. At its hinged end the support l3 has a trough shaped sheet metal end retainer 20 for leaves inserted under its side channels. Each leaf 2! has, see

atomic the reinforcing strip to form a hinge line; A

transparent pocket 25 may be secured to the free edge of each leaf to hold an index or other data strip. When the leaves are to be inserted in the carrier, the support I3 is first brought to the position shown in Figure 4, and-the projecting lugs 22a at the ends of the leaves 2! are introduced into the side channels on the support l3. The end lugs 22a of the stiffening members can be engaged in the channels by flexing each leaf individually to bow its stiffening member slightly, and when so engaged the stiffening members 2-2 serve also as spacer bars to determine the degree of overlap. and thereby the depth of the index strip exposed at the free edge of eachleaf. The channels l5 of thesupport 13 are designed specifically to accommodate a predetermined number of contiguously disposed stiffening members. When the channels have been filled with reinforcing members 22 to. the designed capacity, the support I3 is swung to the Fig. 3 position, and the space indicated at 226. in Fig. 4 between the inner end reinforcing member and the adjacent edge of the cross member 12. is taken up. In that setting the end I! of the spring 18 automatically engages the panel projections i8 with the reinforcing members 22 clamped in compression between the cross member l2 and the cross-shaped retainer 20. In the example illustrated, twenty-five stifiening members are shown, allowing for the fact that, as seen in Fig. 1, one stiifening. member lies wholly within the trough-shaped member 29, and if it is not desired to employ so many leaves, at least in initial installation, it is common practice to supply one or more spacer strips or bars without leaves to fill the channels to the desired extent, for if the. channels 13 are not filled to capacity for clamping the reinforcing members and/or lugs in compression, the end of the spring l6 will not engage. the panel projections l8. for positive locking in the Fig. 3 position.

It will be seen that in the Fig. 3 position the leaves. define a series ofv parallel sided pockets, each leaf being substantially flatthroughout its length. Matter to be filed, such as accounts or account cards, is accommodated in the'pocket between each adjacent pair of leaves 2|.

When it is desired to dismantle the device, a.

finger is introduced through the hole I9 in the back of the carrier and the spring 16 pushed up to disengageits end I? from the projections 18. The hinge may then bemoved to the position shown in Figure 4, when the endwise. compression on the lugs will be relieved to facilitate disengagement of any of the lugs 22a from the edge channels 15 on the support I3.

I claim:

1. A visible index of the class described comprising a carrier, a leaf support having an inwardly directed channel on its base at each lateral margin, leaf mounting lugs having their ends slidably fitting said channels, a leaf hingedly connected to each of said lugs so that the leaves are normally folded down into offset overlapping relationship, locating means on said carrier engaging the inner ends of the channels on said leaf support effectually to close the same and to locate the inner end of said leaf support substantially in the plane of the carrier, a trough-shaped formation at the outer end of said leaf support effectually closing said channels at their outer ends, 'a link hingedly connected both to said carrier and said leaf support to mount the outer end of said leaf support in a plane parallel with that of said carrier but offset therefrom, a leaf spring cantilever mounted on the under surface of said leaf support with its free end directed toward the outer end of said leaf support, a projection on said carrier cooperative with the free end of said spring for locking a predetermined number of lugs in compression between said trough-shaped member and said locating means,

and access means at the back of said carrier for manually disengaging said spring from said pro-' jection to relieve the compression loading on said lugs.

2. A visible index of the class described comprising a carrier, 2. leaf support having an inwardly directed channel on its base at each lateral margin, leaf mounting lugs having their ends slidably fitting said channels, a leaf hingedly connected to each of said lugs so that the leaves are normally folded down into offset overlapping relationship, locating means on said carrier engaging the inner ends of the channels on said leaf support effectually to close the same and to locate the inner end of said leaf support substantially in the plane of the carrier, a trough-shaped formation at the outer end of said leaf support effectually closing said channels at their outer ends, a link hingedly connected both to said carrier and said leaf support to mount the outer end of said leaf support in a plane parallel with that of said carrier but offset therefrom, and releasable lock means cooperative between said leaf support and said carrier to secure a predetermined number of lugs in compression between said trough-shaped formation and said locating means.

ARTHUR REX JACKSON.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

' UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,530,618 Rand Mar. 24, 1925 1,560,856 Rand Nov. 10, 1925 2,026,503 Layer Dec. 31, 1935 2,178,457 Rand Oct. 31, 1939 

